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Shri Durgaprasad asked: Pādanamaskāram Swami! In the Sankranti message on January 15, 2020, You said that Bhīṣma died praying to Krishna with full concentration and got salvation. But throughout his life, his goal was only pravṛtti and, in fact, he only sided with injustice. He did not practically serve the Lord at all. Then, how could he get salvation? At Your divine feet, Durgaprasad.
Swami replied: The day of the salvation of Bhīṣma is considered to be a holy festival for all spiritual aspirants. Bhīṣma led his entire life committed only to the goal of pravṛtti. But pravṛtti and nivṛtti are always interrelated and intermingled. One need not leave worldly life (pravṛtti) and lead a pure spiritual life (nivṛtti) to get salvation. Family life is not a hindrance in the spiritual path. While remaining with the family, one can indeed attain the grace...
Shri Lakshman asked: Padanamaskarams Swami! I have picked up a topic on ativarnashrama or ati-ashrama from the archives of ‘The Mountain Path’ 1991 of Śrī Ramaṇāśramam. I request You to go through the following excerpt:
Under Indian law, the formal adoption of saṃnyāsa means that the saṃnyāsin can be legally regarded as being dead. He loses all rights to his property, which is taken over by his appointed heirs. If he belongs to some of the traditional orders of saṃnyasa, he has no rights to own or acquire property...
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! As you thought, it is perfectly correct to treat the Human Incarnation as Ativarṇāśramī or Ati-āśramī. God Dattātreya was questioned by divine sages about His āśrama. He was wearing the saffron cloth and so, He should be treated as a saṃnyāsī. But He had His wife, Anaghā standing by His side and so, He should be treated as a gṛhastha āśramī. He was staying in the forest and so, He should be treated as a vānaprastha...
[Kum. Thalla Bhanu asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, I’m very grateful to receive Your divine knowledge. Swami, I have witnessed many instances of parental fights and abusive language at home from childhood. I do not know what I should do in that situation. I feel bitter and start to reject one of them. I tend to show my anger on them in their subsequent interactions with me. I have learnt that whatever we go through in life, is because of our own karma. I also appreciate the fact that I am less attached to my home and my love and faith towards God has increased because of such an atmosphere at home. I want to know what I should do when my parents are quarreling and how to stop the bitter impression the quarrels leave on my behavior in my subsequent interactions with them. I seek Your help in the matter.]
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Anger in the mind is expressed either in words as abuses or expressed in actions as physical fights. The expression of mental anger in words is safer than expressing it in the form of physical assault. Anger expressed in words wounds the mind, whereas anger expressed in actions wounds both the mind and the body. The punishments in hell for these expressions of anger...
[Kum. Thalla Bhanu asked: Swami, I feel that I have a crush (moha) on a person, whom I do not know personally. That person does not even know that I exist. I cannot help but involve in the act of daydreaming and it entertains me a lot. I encouraged myself to daydream since childhood, but after reading your Divine Discourses, I have realized that it is wrong. But now, it is very hard to overcome that habit. Please suggest to me what I should do to overcome this crush and the habit of daydreaming.]
Swami replied: The excessive fascination for a person to the extent of daydreaming must be analysed in the proper manner. The reason for the attraction must be due to some special or extraordinary qualities existing in the person. Compare the person with God, who has the same qualities, but to a much higher level. In fact, God has the same qualities to the highest level. God also has many more attractive qualities...
[Padanamaskaram Swami! I often hear about parents referring to numerology to come up with the spelling of their child’s name. Sometimes, I have seen that they add an alphabet or remove an alphabet from the existing name or completely change the existing name itself! This is believed to improve the child’s luck. Similarly, depending on their birth rāśi, people wear rings consisting of their specific birth stones on specific fingers. Swami, can You please clarify if this is really good to do and what significance it has. At Your lotus feet, Priyanka]
Swami replied: Numerology is a discovery of modern astrologers. There is no scripture written by the ancient sages on numerology, whereas scriptures written by ancient sages on astrology do exist. The basis of astrology is divine since it recognizes the role of the deities of the various planets...
[Shri Hrushikesh Pudipeddi asked: Can You please tell me who performed the pūjā for Śrī Rāma before He left for Lanka with His army? I have heard that a brahmin priest was needed to perform the pūjā and they had to turn to Rāvaṇā to do it. I searched on Google and there too, it is mentioned that Rāvaṇa conducted the pūjā. Is it true? It does not make sense to me. How could the same Rāvaṇa, who abducted Sītā, conduct the pūjā for Rāma, before going to war with Him? I request You to kindly enlighten us with Your answer.]
Swami replied: Patience, peace and knowledge are good qualities related to sattvam. Ego, overactivity and greed are bad qualities related to rajas. Ignorance, rigidity and laziness are bad qualities related to tamas. In any soul, all the three sets of qualities...
Shri Hrushikesh Pudipeddi asked: Dear Swami! A spiritual aspirant has raised a concern on social media about the contradiction between the Vedic statements “Etasmād ekāki na ramate; sa dvitīyaṃ aicchat;” and the concept that the nature of God is sat-cit-ānanda. These two ideas about God are contradicting. The first statement says that God was alone and bored and so, He created creation for His enjoyment. The second idea is that God is in a state of eternal bliss (ānanda). How can God who is Sat-Cit-Ānanda, become bored and need some second item (creation) for His enjoyment? Given below are some of the comments made by this person on social media on this topic: “Saying that God could not enjoy because He was alone, seems inappropriate. As per the Vedas, He is sat-cit-ānanda, which means, He enjoys never ending bliss (ānanda). Why are you lowering His status by saying that He could not enjoy because He was alone? Does it mean that creation was created just for one person’s (God’s) enjoyment? Clearly, something is missing in your idea. Just take it positively; I am also trying to find the anwswer. Treat this conversion as a spiritual discussion (satsang).”
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Generally, people think that a very high quantity of happiness is called ānanda. But this opinion is not correct. In the Veda, different quantities of ānanda like mānuṣānanda, Indrānanda etc., are mentioned and all these various quantities of happiness are indicated by the same word ānanda. Mānuṣānanda means the maximum quantity of happiness...
Smt. Priyanka asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! I have a question about reflecting our personal emotions appropriately towards God or the Human Incarnation of God. I think You had mentioned earlier that a devotee can turn any dominant emotion in them such as anger, love, jealousy, ego, guilt etc. towards God and still reach God because God created all emotions and as long as they are used towards God, it is not a sin. There was also probably a mention of the contemporary Human Incarnation reflecting the same emotion back to a devotee, even though God is beyond all emotions. What I mean is, if someone has a brotherly feeling towards the contemporary Human Incarnation, does God also always reciprocate that brotherly emotion towards the devotee?...
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! There are three instruments (trikaraṇās) created by God in the body and they are (1) mind, (2) words and (3) action. The feeling of love is produced in the mind. The love produced in the mind is in an unexpressed state. It gets expressed through words and actions. Since human beings do not have the power of knowing the love present in a person’s mind, expression through words...
[Shri Nikhil asked: Padanamaskarams Swamiji! We would like Your clarification about a disturbing incident that happened near our house recently. Due to Your grace, we live on a clean and peaceful campus located next to a forest. We have been granted a life of solitude, where we can meditate upon and serve the Sadguru, as instructed by Lord Śaṇkara (Ekānte sukhamāsyatām, paratare cetaḥ samādhīyatām—Sādhanā Pañcakam). We hardly have any social interactions. I at least have some basic interaction at my workplace and Arsha at her school, but Devi has none. Other than the two of us, her only companions are the peacocks, which come every morning for bhikṣā. They call out to her relentlessly until she gives them something to eat. During the breeding season, they dance...
Swami replied: Your interpretation of the incident is perfectly correct. The peahen represents the deity of justice (Dharma Devatā). The python represents Satan (Kali Puruṣa) who is responsible for the sins of humanity. This python (Satan) does not exist separately as an independent item in creation. It is nothing but the six vices or bad qualities existing in the human being. When the sinful quality in humanity is little...
[Shri Bhagath asked: Padanamaskaram to Guruji! Was cancer present in olden days? If yes, what treatment would patients get? I read in some foreign websites that some people got cancer and they got cured by some procedures like watching comedy movies, laughing and always being happy. Is it possible to cure cancer by being happy and maintaining one’s peace of mind by not thinking about the cancer? But nowadays, the most common treatments used by doctors to treat cancer patients are radiotherapy and chemotherapy which cost 5–10 lakh rupees. Is the main cause of cancer excessive mental tensions related to worldly problems (pravṛtti), which affect the body, as told by You. Some yoga preachers are saying that our food habits are responsible for cancer. They say that green chillies, deep fried foods and masalas cause cancer. They recommended using red chillis instead of green chillies, since red chilli powder contains thiamine, which is good for health. Doctors too say that pickles also not good for health. Then why are pickles included in our traditional diets?]
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! There are references of cancer in ancient Indian literature. The effects of different food ingredients, mentioned by you are matters of science. Food ingredients can have nutritional effects and medicinal effects. The pickles mentioned in our ancient tradition need not be understood as the pickles preserved in jars, which are harmful. Pickles can instead be freshly prepared...
[Shri Bhagath asked: Padanamaskaramulu to Guruji! I read a story, which said that one should remember the Lord, like Krishna or Rāma at the time of death in order to get liberation. A preacher was traveling to Kashi with his disciples. He realized that he was about to die. He asked his discples, “Where am I now?” They replied “We are in the area of Kashi where people from the scheduled caste live”. That was the last thing he heard before he died. So, he was reborn as a scheduled caste person. But in the new birth, he remembered his previous birth. He visited the king and told his story to the king. He requested the king that while hanging sinners, prayers in the name of Lord Krishna or Rāma be recited. Since the last words heard by the sinners before their death would be about God, they would get liberation (mokṣam). Is it true one gets liberation just by listening to or remebering God’s name before death?]
Swami replied: Such statements are called arthavādās. They are certainly lies, but they serve a beneficial purpose. They are not wrong because they can be used to encourage souls to become devotees of God...
[Shri Bhagath asked: When I achieve even a small thing in worldly matters (pravṛtti), I feel as if I have done it. I feel that it has happened only because of me. I feel that without me, my family would not be able to run smoothly. Credit or fame (kīrti) for any action is also the fruit of the action (karma phalam). How can we practically pass the credit to the Parabrahman or ultimate God like Paraṣurāma Avatāra?]
Swami replied: Even when some creditable action has clearly been done by God and not by the soul, ego makes the soul feel that he or she is the doer of the action (Ahaṃkāra vimūdhātmā…—Gita)! When this is the state of the soul, how can it feel that whatever action appears to have been done by the soul was also actually done by God? When a person cannot even jump 10 feet high, how can you expect...
[Shri Bhagath asked: There is a story about a prostitute and a devotee. The devotee used to count the number of people visiting the prostitute by placing stones next to each other. Then he would scold her harshly for the number of sins done by her. But she would not say anything in return. After both the devotee and the prostitute died, the devotee was sent to hell, while the prostitute was sent to heaven. There is another story in which a king donated some food to priests. But unfortunately, some people died upon eating it. The reason was that, unseen by anyone, an eagle had flown over the food vessels carrying a snake it had caught and some of the poison of the snake had dripped into the vessels. Lord Yama Dharmraj, the lord of death and his assistant, Chitragupta, were discussing about who should be held responsible for the sin of killing the priests. At that point, a certain citizen of the kingdom blamed the king saying that the king had knowingly killed the priests. On hearing the citizen blame the king, Lord Yama Dharmraj said to Chitragupta to write the sin in the account of the blaming citizen. Could you please explain these stories?]
Swami replied: The moral of these stories is that one should not be hasty in deciding the sinner through the inefficient and insufficient analysis of our limited intelligence. The prostitute might be committing the sin only for the sake of meeting her basic needs. If she has no other means of survival, it cannot be counted as a sin, in her case. Moreover, one human being cannot declare another human being as a sinner because every human being is a sinner...
[Amdavadi asked: You have said that drinking wine is one of the ‘Five Horrible Sins’. In that case, why did all ancient Hindu saints consume alcohol (surapānam)? Or do You deny it?]
Swami replied: It is not a question of whether some concept existed in ancient scriptures or not. The question is whether the concept is right or wrong, based on sharp scientific analysis. Old is not fully gold. Neither is the latest completely the best. The old and the new contain both good and bad. In ancient ritual sacrifices, the flesh of killed animals was eaten as the sacred remains of food eaten by God (prasāda). Does it mean that killing innocent and soft-natured animals is not a sin? The reality was that even if the sacrifices were not conducted, people would have consumed non-vegetarian food...
[Shri Guna Darsana asked (through Shri Surya): In my heart and my mind, I just think about Swami (Shri Datta Swami), Shri Satya Sai Baba and Shri Shirdi Sai Baba. Bhagawan Shri Satya Sai has even shown me the truth about You, Swami. So, I have full faith in You. Can I use the following mantra to worship You, Satya Sai and Shirdi Sai together?
Om Parabrahma samārambhām, Śrī Dattātreya madhyamām|
Śrī Satya Sāī paryantām, vande guru paramparām||
It has been a very long time and I have never seen You, Swami. So, could I get your darśan, even if in my dream. I am sorry to do this. I am only doing it because I miss You Swami. Thank You! Jai Guru Datta, Śrī Datta, Prabhu Datta!
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Scholars say that there is an unseen third eye of knowledge on the forehead of every human being. This third eye represents the unimaginable God or Parabrahman. The right eye of God is said to be the sun, which is the embodiment of inert energy. It indicates the first Energetic Incarnation of God (God Dattātreya). The left eye of God is said to be the moon, which represents coolness. It stands for the condensation...
[Tinku K asked: People say that the old Indian traditional dresses for both men and women were good for health and that the present dresses are not good for health. Also, the present clothes that girls wear are provoking to boys, which leads to crimes. Could You please clarify.]
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! This gross body itself is a dress for the soul (Vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni…—Gita). If you see the ancient way of dressing of ladies in India, they only tied a piece...
[Mrs. Lakshmi asked: Dear Sir, I have a question regarding marriage in the modern age. Why are some people not able to get married and how does it impact their purpose in life? Thank you in advance. Lakshmi.]
Swami replied: People do not understand the divine background of marriage and feel that marriage is only a worldly affair, having no connection with spirituality. Marriage has a very important connection with spirituality. The Veda says that one should get married (Prajātantuṃ mā vyavacchetsīḥ…) so that the next generation will be born...
[Shri Yogendra asked: Pranam, Shri Datta Swami! I would like to see You. Some people say serving cows, which are sacred (goseva) does not lead to any spiritual progress. Others say that all gods and godesses shower blessings on the person who serves cows. What is the truth? Yogendra.]
Swami replied: Among animals, the cow is regarded as the most non-violent and soft-natured animal. It represents all soft-natured animals. One should serve all soft-natured animals and birds. Similarly, among human beings, a brāhmaṇa is the most soft-natured. A brāhmaṇa does not mean a person born in the brahmin caste...
[Shri Surendra asked (through Shri Balaji): The following question is there in my mind for a long time. I tried searching for an answer on my own, but I could not get a satisfactory answer. Religions have been the biggest reason of genocide, and killing, for thousands of years (even more, for sure). As we know, God alone created the whole world. He also created human beings having all the sūkṣma bhāvas or feelings like mercy, love, hate, anger, greed, jealousy etc. Please clarify why God did not add an additional bhāva or feeling in the human being that there is only one God? Why was this ‘one God-feeling’ not inbuilt in humans? It would have solved the biggest problem facing mankind today!]
Swami replied: You have agreed that God created feelings like mercy and love in human beings. Then why are so many people not following mercy and love? Why can those feelings...
[Shri Surendra asked (through Shri Balaji): As stated even in the Bhagavad Gita, whenever sin increases in world, Bhagavān (God) descends on Earth in the form of Incarnations (Avatāras) to restore the balance. After accomplishing the divine mission, God returns to His divine abode. But Bhagavān Paraṣurāma Avatāra never went back to the divine abode, Vaikuṇṭha. It is said that He will remain on Earth until the end of the Kali Yuga. So, the question is, when Bhagavān Paraṣūrāma is already present on earth, why is injustice (adharma) still rising in the world. Also, why is there the need for other Incarnations of God? Not only Paraṣurāma, but also Lord Hanumān is an Incarnation and He is immortal (cirañjīvī). Then, why is injustice still on the rise?]
Swami replied: Even if we assume that Paraṣurāma and Hanumān are not present in the world today, God is effectively present everywhere in the world. God is not physically omnipresent in creation...
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